Promised Eternity
by h-h-han
Summary: e·ter·ni·ty     -infinite time; duration without beginning or end.
1. Chapter 1

Wow.. Hello everyone. It's been a long time, right? I'm so sorry to have deserted you all. You know how it gets; priorities and life come first I'm afraid _ I hope everyone's well and I missed you guys all a lot. But anyway.. Enough of me being a whiny writer!

I just opened my laptop tonight and had this insatiable urge to write.. And write. It's 1am as I'm writing this right now. My muse is apparently in full force mode and I'm liking this.

My lovely GSR have come to pay me a visit. Unfortunately I do not own them, as I do not own CSI. If I did then Marg wouldn't be leaving ;_;

Please enjoy.

-Han

* * *

e·ter·ni·ty

-infinite time; duration without beginning or end.

The rain was gently tapping against the roof, streaking down the windows. It was calming, very calming; almost cleansing. The woman sat curled up in the small, cosy – yet worn, chair in the corner of the room. The room itself was bare. Cream coloured walls, adorned by a single painting that had caught her eye during a long walk. Simple, not distracting. It allowed her to relax, focus.

She turned a page of her book – a book that she knew very well from beginning to end. The pages were worn and the spine was starting to become tatty. The book bound in a deep violet spine was grasped tightly in the woman's hands. She read; she smiled, she cried, she laughed. So was the story; so was life. Books were very much like life; or so this one was. Echoed throughout this book were fragments of her own story. It was as if the story and her had a reflection upon one another.

She reached the end of the book once again. She had lost count how many times she had read it. By this time, the rain had eased up and the sun was shining through the windows, illuminating the room. She closed the book and gently placed her hand over the cover, resting for a minute. She smiled to herself and placed the book on the small brown side table next to her when her cellphone rang.

She reached into her pocket and flipped it open.

"Hello."

"Honey.. I need you."

She smiled to herself, and paused.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

She closed the phone, and paused before getting to her feet, and slipping her shoes on. She grabbed her jacket, keys and wallet as well as the case that was already prepared by the door and left the apartment.

The sun had now leaked into the now vacant room; exuding a warmth that lit and enveloped every inch of the room. It illuminated the book's cover, allowing the barely illegible title to be read.

"Promised Eternity"

* * *

She parked up outside the scene and reached over to the passenger seat to retrieve her kit. She opened the door of the vehicle and exited, kit in tow. She lifted the crime scene tape up and went into the house. The house was a typical show house; white picket fence, white on the outside, sparkling on the inside. Except for the kitchen which was Murder Central.

Sara slid her sunglasses onto the top of her head and looked around. Blood was splattered everywhere; on the white tiles, the cream surfaces, even on the ceiling. Not to mention the large pool on the floor. She went around the other side of the kitchen unit to where he was already taking pictures of the victim.

He looked up and saw Sara standing there, and smiled.

"Hello dear." Grissom said.

"Hello," Sara replied, smiling. "You seem very.. happy."

"It seems you have that effect on me," he replied, before turning his attention back to the victim. Sara bent down to study the body in more detail.

"What do we got?"

"Our vic is Karen Brady. 30. Loving mother, devoted housewife, respected community member. However, seemed someone had an issue with her."

"Attack seems pretty brutal," Sara said. "Bruises to her arms, wrists, face.. Her throat was slashed. Seems to be blunt force trauma to the head too.. Did you find any weapons?"

"No," Grissom said. "I couldn't see any signs of forced entry either; it would seem that our vic knew her killer. I've dusted all the handles for prints and taken a swap of a substance I found on the outside door handle leading to the drive. A sticky substance; if I'm not mistaken, I believe it to be citrus oil. Orange, in fact."

Sara smirked. "Our killer ate an orange before killing our vic? Pre-murder snack, maybe?"

"It would seem so," Grissom replied. "I'll get the prints, swabs and the other bits of evidence I've collected to Trace. Then we can discuss why I've called you in." Grissom stood up and started packing away his kit.

Sara looked perplexed. "I.. thought you called me in to handle this case?"

Grissom smiled. "Not exactly. Catherine and Nick are taking this case; they're on the way as we speak. I have other matters to discuss with you. Shall we?"

Grissom flicked the clasps on the top of his kit box shut and walked out of the house. Sara was confused. Why would Grissom call her in if not to handle a case? It must be something important. She was racking her brains as to what she could have done wrong, what she might be reprimanded for. She drove all the way to the lab on auto-pilot.

_Think, think, think. Have I done something stupid that I can't remember? Mind you, I'm sure if I had Ecklie would have caught it and bought me up on it already._

_.. I got it. Just apologise and pretend you know what's going on. I think.. Yeah, that's what I'll do._

Sara placed the kit in her locker and took a sip at the water fountain. She walked across the lab, before reaching Grissom's office. Her stomach lurched. Why was she feeling this way? A wave of nauseousness swept over her. She knocked, and waited for a reply.

"Come in," the voice called.

Sara pushed the door open gently to see Grissom with his head in one of his books, his glasses perched on the end of his nose. He looked up to see Sara, and closed the book before putting it to one side.

"Sit down," he smiled, gesturing to a chair in front of him. Sara sat on the edge of the seat. She felt like a schoolgirl who had been sent to the headmaster for punishment.

"Griss.. Before you say what you have to say, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do it, and I'm really sorry. I -" She stopped because of the faint chuckle that the man had exuded.

"Dear, why are you apologising? You have nothing to be sorry for. At least, to my knowledge you haven't.. You haven't anything to tell me though that would make that apology stand?" Grissom said, raising his eyebrow. Sara shook her head, and he began to speak again.

"Actually, the reason I asked you in today is because I received a call yesterday. Professor Linburm has asked me to go and be a guest speaker at a few conferences in San Francisco. I know you were good friends with him back when you used to live there. Matter of fact, he asked how you were doing. Anyway, I accepted his offer and took two weeks' vacation. It'd be nice to go back and see old friends again. And I'm getting tired lately. I think.. I need some time. To rest and recover. A change of scenery. So I'm going to be out of the lab for a while."

"Wow," Sara smiled. "The boss is actually taking vacation leave. First time ever, right? And.. I'm confused. What does this have to do with me?"

"Well my dear, I was hoping you'd come with me."


	2. Chapter 2

Hello guys..

Before we start, I just wanted to say thankyou to the overwhelming response I got to the first chapter. When I posted it I didn't think much of it and left it, and checked my e-mails a few days later only to come back to at least 20 messages; reviews, people setting story alerts and favouriting the story.. I'm really grateful to you guys for supporting me. You guys are the reason I write this..

But anyway, enough about me. Anyone wanna get ready to go on a trip? ;]

–

Sara reclined back in her chair and blinked. Twice.

"As in, like, uhh.. Go.. With you? To San Francisco?"

Grissom nodded. "I think it's time you took a break away from the lab, and I sensed this to be an opportune moment."

"What, are you saying I can't handle the workload anymore?" Sara looked up.

"I never said that," Grissom said, removing his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I merely think a break is good for everyone. And what with you pulling a lot of doubles and triples lately, your work seems to engulf you completely."

"And what's the problem with that? There's people out there that need to be caught and they'll just sit out there, happy in the knowledge they're getting away with something they should never have done in the first place! I'm just helping to knock them down a notch!" Sara was becoming angry at this point, and stood up.

"Sara, I-" Grissom started. Sara raised her hand.

"Just forget it," Sara said. "It's clear that you think I'm about to self destruct and am some sort of.. Just.. Someone who is unaware of limits. I've been doing this for long enough to know where to draw the line, Grissom." Sara rubbed her hand on her hand, and turned and walked out of the door, ignoring Grissom's calls. She walked to the locker room and sat down on one of the steel benches.

How dare Grissom try to hell her what she should be doing? She knew herself well enough to understand when she was pushing herself too hard and when she needed to ease off a little. And yes, she had been pulling a lot of extra shifts, but it kept her busy and meant she didn't have to spend endless hours in her apartment, alone. Doing nothing. It drove her crazy. _Why spend hours tossing and turning in bed when she could be out solving murders and doing justice,_ she thought.

She was running the events through her head when Nick walked in.

"Hey, Sar. I thought you had the day off today?"

"Yeah, I did. Grissom called me in." Sara looked up and gave a faint trace of a smile. Nick knew Sara to well to understand that look; he instantly sat beside her and put his arm around her.

"What's Bossman done now?" he asked, resting his head on top of hers.

Sara muffled into his shoulder. "Crime scene.. Orange juice.. Then go to San Francisco... With him... Self destruct.. Nnnnrgh."

Nick chucked. "Hrmm.. I see. Now I don't get what the orange juice has to do with San Fran.. Care to discuss in a little more detail over a beer or two? I'm buyin'." Nick removed his arm and winked standing up, motioning to Sara to accompany him.

"Thanks, Nicky, but I'm gonna pass. I'm not feeling too good. I'm too gonna head home and sleep it off." Sara smiled, and stood up, opening her locker.

"Okay. I hope you feel better soon," Nick gave a slight wave before walking out. Sara chuckled to herself before grabbing her coat and keys and making her way to the parking lot.

–

The drive home was pretty much on auto-pilot. The drive normally took her 15 minutes, but it seemed like it was 15 seconds. How she got home paying the smallest amount of attention she had been was scary.

She let out a yawn as she pulled up to her driveway. She parked the car and sat back in the chair for a second.

_I'm so tired lately.. All the time. I don't even know why. I just want to sleep. Sleep and sleep for weeks on end. Maybe I should just take some time off from work and rest. But then I'll just be going crazy, holed up in the stupid apartment. Maybe I'll just stay at work..._

Sara opened her eyes. She had a wave of fatigue hit her; she knew her falling to sleep was imminent. She got out of her car and locked it behind her, and proceeded to make her way to her front door. She had the keys in the door and was pushing the handle when she heard a car door shut behind her. She paid no notice to it... Until the footsteps grew closer.. And closer. She slowly let go of her keys, leaving them to hang in the lock, and placed her hand on her gun. She didn't normally like carrying it, but today she decided to wear it. She turned on her heels and looked at the approaching figure, who was hard to make out in the dark. She craned her head until the figure came closer, then sighed.

"Grissom, you should know better than to stalk women at this time of night."

"It's not stalking if you bring Chinese food, dear."

Sara turned and opened the door, throwing the keys onto the side table and flicking the light switch, illuminating the room. She stood holding on the door, and motioned for Grissom to come in. He smiled and walked in, making his way to the sofa.

"So.. I guess the question is, what are you doing here?" Sara asked, kicking off her shoes and hanging her jacket up. She moved over to the sofa where Grissom was sitting. Her handed her a carton and a bottle of water.

"Vegetable fried rice.. Your favourite?" Grissom asked, taking a bite of an egg roll. Sara nodded, and grabbed a set of the chopsticks. In between mouthfuls, she said, "You still haven't answered my question."

"My motive for being here is to find an answer for my proposition. You never answered it earlier."

She unscrewed the lid of the bottled water and took a small sip. She replaced the lid and gently traced her finger up and down the side of the bottle, making patterns in the condensation that had gathered.

"I.. don't know, Griss. I mean, it's a lot to organise. Plane tickets and finding someone to cover shifts and obvously there's going to be questions asked about me and you going together.. I mean I know there's nothing going on but Ecklie's sure to start trouble somewhere."

Grissom wiped his hands on a napkin and disposed of the empty food container in the plastic bag that it came with.

"I already have all of that sorted. A couple of member of Swing are going to cover our shifts, and Professor Linburm has provided me with 2 tickets, paid for by the university I'm going to be lecturing at, seeing as I am attending as a guest. And you don't need to worry about Ecklie."

Sara took a last bite of her rice before crumpling up the carton and placing it in the bag as well. She couldn't help but smirk.

"Seems as if you've planned this out knowing I'd say yes."

"Let's just say, if all else fails, I have a bargaining chip."

Sara became interested. "And what's your bargaining chip, then?"

"I'll stick Greg on garbage runs for the next 3 months." Grissom stood up and collected the rubbish bag, placing it in the bin in Sara's small kitchen. He walked back to the living room and perched on the arm of the sofa.

Sara laughed. The poor torment of one of her co-workers in order for her to take a vacation was not only a terrible abuse of power, but hilarious at the same time. Poor Greg. She could picture him now, knee-deep in waste, sifting through.. He would definitely have to stock up on the lemons.

"So dear, what do you say? Professor Linburm seemed excited at the proposition you were going.. You'll be able to go and see old family and friends and it won't be costing you anything.."

Sara nodded her head. "Fine, fine. I'll go. You and your Chinese food won me over. Not to mention your bargaining chip. I like. But when are we expected out there?"

Grissom said nothing, but a small smile played across his face. He handed Sara an envelope that he had retrieved from his jacket pocket.

"Good night, dear." He showed himself out and Sara locked and chained the door behind him. She sat on the sofa and turned over the envelope, carefully tearing it open. A single plane ticket fell out and she studied it.

Her face dropped.

"BUT THIS IS FOR TOMORROW!"


End file.
